Working without pay during shutdown, more TSA agents are calling in sick

With the partial government shutdown stretching into 2019, here's what you need to know about the effects.
USA TODAY

A traveler walks through a TSA metal-detector at Washington Dulles International Airport on Aug. 10, 2018. Callouts among Transportation Security Administration employees have increased since a partial government shutdown beginning Dec. 22 left TSA personnel working without pay, the agency announced Friday.(Photo11: Bart Jansen, USA TODAY)

Sick days among Transportation Security Administration employees have increased since a partial government shutdown beginning Dec. 22 left TSA personnel working without pay, the agency announced Friday.

An increase in call-outs — workers who say they are too sick to work their shifts —started over the holidays and has grown, but the phenomenon is causing a "minimal impact" on the security screening process at airports, the agency says in a tweet.

"Security effectiveness will not be compromised and performance standards will not change . . . To date, however, screening wait times remain well within TSA standards," the statement said.

As the shutdown is headed towards a third week, tens of thousands of TSA agents are among federal employees who are working without pay.

President Donald Trump and lawmakers emerged Friday afternoon from their latest round of talks at the White House, only to indicate that an agreement to end the partial shutdown could be a long way off.

Trump, who has demanded $5.6 billion to help pay for a border wall, acknowledged he had warned Democrat leaders that an impasse could last for months or even years if a deal cannot be reached on financing for the wall.